He wears a sleeveless red silk vest over maroon robes.
Twenty-five students sit around him, attentive.
They have come from all over the metro area to the Rime Buddhist Center and Monastery on Kansas City's West Side, seeking wisdom from Lama Chuck Stanford, who sometimes goes by his Tibetan name, Lama Changchup Kunchok Dorje.
In Stanford's 12-week course, the Basics of Buddhism, students start by meditating on a raisin. ("First, we bring attention to seeing the raisin, observing it carefully, as if we had never seen one before. We are also aware of any thoughts we might be having about raisins, or food in general," the exercise in the textbook instructs.)
Now, midway through the class, they know all about the dharma (the teachings of the Buddha) and concepts such as the Four Noble Truths:
One, life always involves suffering.
Two, the cause of suffering is desire.
Three, getting rid of craving can end suffering.
Four, craving can be eliminated by following the Buddha's Eightfold Path. (The Eightfold Path is about doing everything "right" -- right thinking, right speech, right conduct.)
The students talk about their efforts to practice Buddhist principles. One twentysomething guy talks about his frustrations trying to merge into traffic on Southwest Boulevard.
"Well," Stanford replies with a smile, "I've often thought that if the Buddha had been alive today instead of 2,500 years ago, we would have had the Ninefold Path instead of the Eightfold Path." He pauses, his timing comedic. "And the ninth fold would have been right driving."
The students laugh.
Later, a longtime member of Stanford's congregation, Teri Brody, will confirm one of Stanford's special talents. "He's got that showbiz personality," she tells the Pitch.
Before he was executive director and spiritual leader of the Rime Center, Stanford supplemented his income doing card tricks and pulling quarters out of kids' ears. Despite his talent for magic tricks, though, Stanford hasn't been able to make tensions at the Rime Center disappear.
Last spring, several board members resigned, unhappy with the way Stanford was running the center and doubtful of his qualifications as a lama. Restiveness at the center continued through the fall.
The malcontents couldn't help but take it personally when they picked up The Kansas City Star in January and saw that Stanford had written his monthly column about discord within congregations.
"If someone finds they simply cannot get along with the community or does not have faith and confidence in the pastor, rabbi or lama, they have an obligation to leave rather than to cause disharmony in the congregation," he wrote on January 17. "The Buddha, in his infinite wisdom, placed an incredibly high value on a congregation getting along. He compared causing disharmony in a congregation to killing one's parents."
A few years earlier, it would have been hard to imagine Stanford as a spiritual leader. During the 1980s and '90s, he ran a party-planning company in Merriam called Stanford Productions, supplying wacky carnival games -- Sumo Wrestling, the Bungee Run, Human Bowling -- for birthday celebrations and company picnics. He moonlighted as a magician -- "Mr. Fabulous" -- and performed as a stand-up comedian.
But even though he was a master of sudden transformations, Stanford had nothing on the guru Kusum Lingpa. According to his own Web site, Kusum Lingpa has supernatural powers that help him find spiritual messages that were supposedly hidden in the earth, water and sky more than 1,000 years ago by the enlightened Indian saint who brought Buddhism to Tibet.
Showing 1-4 of 4
Which 'Dark Side'?
In bringing Buddhism to Americans, especially in an isolated outpost such as KC, there is bound to be some confusion. I cant see any big deal here.
I think this article, though well written, is yellow journalism.
Which 'Dark Side'? In bringing Buddhism to Americans, especially in an isolated outpost such as KC, there is bound to be some confusion. I cant see any big deal here. I think this article, though well written, is yellow journalism.
The most important part of Buddhist practice is the development of merit and insight into one's true state "compassionate causes" and the extrication and dissolution of negative miss perceptions "selfish or self destructive causes".
The facility of a Teacher is to assist each student in accomplishing the development of merit in a way that best suits each student.
Both must have confidence on their commitments OW this will only lead to disharmony and both will suffer.
In order to accomplish this, the Teacher has to have a firm understanding of the suffering and dissatisfaction of each and every one of the students, and the actual wish that they stop suffering.
Normal people will talk and gossip and view the world with their own individually learned miss perceptions.
While on the path each student must recognize the sufferings of their fellow students
and aid them in their development.
Otherwise we cannot support each others practice or our own, then people start to break their connection to the Dharma and the flame of the lamp of liberation goes out.
This must be halted or the living tradition that we are trying to follow will eventually become the cause of our suffering, and our demise, please don't do this!
This is not an easy accomplishment on either side.
The accomplished Teacher would rather cut off their own arm than to confuse a student or misuse a students merit or faith.
Of course we make mistakes; so we than very quickly engage in the purification of self atonement. That way we clean our miss perceptions and guilt extremely quickly.
It is written a thousand times over; the only good thing about our miss perceptions is that they can be cleansed and eradicated from our mind (thoughts)/bodies (energy).
The reason that we venerate the Lama is because the Lama represents the living tradition of the Vajrayana; if the Lama holds all of the empowerments of the lineage and has progressed through the stages the Teachings that they give are equated with those of the Buddha.
Use the analogy of riding a horse; you ride a horse at the merry go round at a carnival, it is fun but eventually it is boring, always the same, it goes around and around in a circle.
You ride an actual living horse and you have to have your senses awake, you have to communicate with the horse very clearly otherwise you could get hurt.
I am not suggesting that anybody ride a horse; I would not ride a horse, I would have to walk with the horse and of course this is not the point.
Nor am I associating the connection with a Lama as similar to a horse.
What I am saying is that the Teachings that a qualified Lama imparts are fully living and breathing and held together with the realization of those realized beings in the Lama's lineage.
If one practices them with correct instructions one can assume that they will eventually obtain the results of those realized lineage Lama's in their tradition.
If they adulterate the practices and mix their ignorant ill views on the Lama and the Teachings they will ruin their opportunity to achieve enlightenment in this life and render the practices that are available useless in converting their own ignorant minds to compassionate and longevity, eventually having caused a very negative result for themselves and all concerned.
These problems and concepts can also not be accurately comprehended or understood by those who are ignorant and subject to the miss perceptions of eternalism.
So it would be well advised to be careful when practicing these Teachings for both resident Teachers whatever their accomplishments are if any and sincere students in the midst of un-supporting religious traditions.
Gossip makes for the ignorant minds fodder!
The most important part of Buddhist practice is the development of merit and insight into one's true state "compassionate causes" and the extrication and dissolution of negative miss perceptions "selfish or self destructive causes". The facility of a Teacher is to assist each student in accomplishing the development of merit in a way that best suits each student. Both must have confidence on their commitments OW this will only lead to disharmony and both will suffer. In order to accomplish this, the Teacher has to have a firm understanding of the suffering and dissatisfaction of each and every one of the students, and the actual wish that they stop suffering. Normal people will talk and gossip and view the world with their own individually learned miss perceptions. While on the path each student must recognize the sufferings of their fellow students and aid them in their development. Otherwise we cannot support each others practice or our own, then people start to break their connection to the Dharma and the flame of the lamp of liberation goes out. This must be halted or the living tradition that we are trying to follow will eventually become the cause of our suffering, and our demise, please don't do this! This is not an easy accomplishment on either side. The accomplished Teacher would rather cut off their own arm than to confuse a student or misuse a students merit or faith. Of course we make mistakes; so we than very quickly engage in the purification of self atonement. That way we clean our miss perceptions and guilt extremely quickly. It is written a thousand times over; the only good thing about our miss perceptions is that they can be cleansed and eradicated from our mind (thoughts)/bodies (energy). The reason that we venerate the Lama is because the Lama represents the living tradition of the Vajrayana; if the Lama holds all of the empowerments of the lineage and has progressed through the stages the Teachings that they give are equated with those of the Buddha. Use the analogy of riding a horse; you ride a horse at the merry go round at a carnival, it is fun but eventually it is boring, always the same, it goes around and around in a circle. You ride an actual living horse and you have to have your senses awake, you have to communicate with the horse very clearly otherwise you could get hurt. I am not suggesting that anybody ride a horse; I would not ride a horse, I would have to walk with the horse and of course this is not the point. Nor am I associating the connection with a Lama as similar to a horse. What I am saying is that the Teachings that a qualified Lama imparts are fully living and breathing and held together with the realization of those realized beings in the Lama's lineage. If one practices them with correct instructions one can assume that they will eventually obtain the results of those realized lineage Lama's in their tradition. If they adulterate the practices and mix their ignorant ill views on the Lama and the Teachings they will ruin their opportunity to achieve enlightenment in this life and render the practices that are available useless in converting their own ignorant minds to compassionate and longevity, eventually having caused a very negative result for themselves and all concerned. These problems and concepts can also not be accurately comprehended or understood by those who are ignorant and subject to the miss perceptions of eternalism. So it would be well advised to be careful when practicing these Teachings for both resident Teachers whatever their accomplishments are if any and sincere students in the midst of un-supporting religious traditions. Gossip makes for the ignorant minds fodder!
like
dislike
